


Ladies' Night

by pulpriter



Category: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-26
Updated: 2015-09-26
Packaged: 2018-04-23 10:16:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4872970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pulpriter/pseuds/pulpriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mac and Phryne and girl talk</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ladies' Night

**Author's Note:**

> After posting a story called Musings at the Morgue, a few gentle readers asked to see the story of the ladies’ night mentioned at the end of that post. It’s probably not what they expected, or hoped for…but here it is. Be careful what you ask for!
> 
> I don’t own these characters, but it is possible they now own me.

Mac had always thought that Phryne was a pleasant drunk. 

Although Phryne enjoyed a good drink, especially after dinner, she didn’t often let herself go further than a little light-headedness in public. Growing up in Collingwood had informed her views of what a drunk was: the foolish intoxication she saw among the upper classes after ascending to her title was nothing to the barbaric drunkenness she remembered seeing as a child.  
Since those days, Phryne allowed herself to have a good time, but within her own imposed limits. Because of this, it was all the more amusing when Phryne did occasionally let go on a ladies’ night with her dear friend Mac. They were at Mac’s home, and Phryne did not plan to drive home until morning; and “let go” is exactly what she had done this night.

“Oh, Mac, what am I ever going to do?” Phryne sighed dramatically and let her head fall onto the back of the loveseat, gazing at the ceiling.  
Mac, who was far from sober herself, asked reasonably enough, “About what?”  
Phryne glared at Mac. “Well, what do _you_ think?”  
“You can’t just start in the middle of the conversation and expect me to keep up,” Mac told her pedantically.  
Err “Honestly, Mac. You’re not even paying attention.”  
“About what?”  
“Well, about Jack, of course.”  
Mac rolled her eyes. “You realize he intrudes on all of our conversations these days, don’t you?”  
This struck Phryne as very, very funny. “Oh, he would never do that! He’s much too well-mannered!” she said, and she laughed and laughed. Mac joined in. After a while, neither one was entirely sure what they were laughing at, but whatever it might be, it was utterly hilarious.  
At last they calmed down. Phryne said, very seriously, “I’m serious.” Then she whooped with laughter again. “Isn’t that funny? Jack’s the one who’s serious.” Another gale of laughter later, both wiped their eyes and took a deep breath.  
Mac eyed her old friend. “He is serious. And serious about you.”  
“I know. He’s a serious man. He said that to me once. It’s true, you know. ” Phryne heaved a happy sigh. “It’s just that he’s so much fun.”  
Mac waited for more. When it wasn’t forthcoming, she prompted, “Serious? And so much fun? Spill it. Come on.”  
“He’s just…so much more than I expected,” Phryne said dreamily.  
“In what way?” Mac had a feeling she already knew in what way, but forged on.  
Despite her muddled state, Phryne was careful. “Mac…you know I never wanted to feel this way again, after René. But it’s different this time. Jack isn’t anything like René and never will be.”  
“That’s it? That’s all you’re going to tell me? What kind of a ladies’ night is this?” Mac teased.  
“What are you getting at?”  
“Something has changed between you two. I could tell it at once.”  
“When?”  
“When you both came to the morgue the other day.”  
“Oh!” Phryne smiled a secret smile, though perhaps her secret was out. “Well. Yes.”  
“So?”  
This was the point where Phryne would normally plunge into a long description of her latest lover’s attributes, strengths and weaknesses, oddities and peculiarities. It had been enormously amusing to Mac to have listened to her critiques and criticisms of the many lovers she had taken over the years.  
Of course, it might be a little difficult facing the Inspector at work after she learned his deepest secrets, but Mac would have to find a way to deal with that. 

“It’s not like that, Mac,” Phryne said.  
“What? What isn’t like what?” Mac asked.  
“It’s—it’s private. What I have with Jack. I wouldn’t…I couldn’t…” She stumbled over what she wanted to say. She might be feeling no pain, but this was too important to her to make a mistake.  
“So that’s the way it’s going to be? Not even a tidbit, a hint?”  
“No.” Phryne was apologetic but adamant about her restraint.

Mac could see she had misread the situation. This truly was different.

She made a joke of it. “No in-depth discussions of his idiosyncrasies, then? No tripping down the stairs in the morning? No amusing stories of him falling out of bed, or dropping you at a crucial moment?”  
Phryne grinned appreciatively. She had indeed regaled Mac with all of those stories of lovers over the years. “Sorry, Mac old friend, none of those.”  
Mac huffed in disgust. “No surprising tattoos? No outrageous contortions?”  
Phryne laughed and shook her head No.  
“No comical notions of being a great lover?”  
Phryne stopped laughing, but a smug grin appeared on her face. “No comical notions, no…” 

Mac found that she had lost her nerve, after all. The idea of the good Inspector exerting himself on Phryne’s behalf was a little too much for her imagination to bear.  
“Enough. New topic!”


End file.
